


enjoy the night

by Super_Danvers



Category: Wonder Woman (Movies - Jenkins)
Genre: Bisexual Diana (Wonder Woman), Cheetah - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Steve Trevor - Freeform, WW84, Wonder Woman 1984, barbara minerva - Freeform, mentions of steve trevor, past Diana/Steve, wonder woman - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:01:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28428954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Danvers/pseuds/Super_Danvers
Summary: After the events of the near world war, Diana goes to find an old friend.
Relationships: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Barbara Minerva, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Steve Trevor
Comments: 5
Kudos: 208





	enjoy the night

“Barbara? Are you in there?”

Diana’s voice fell upon deaf ears as Barbara’s front door remained shut. She’d been stood here for about ten minutes, the first five making sure she had the right door and a further two summing up the courage to call out her friend’s name. The last three had been Diana wondering if Barbara was even home. She knocked on the door again.

“Barbara? It’s me, Diana. Are you home?” She called. There was a sound behind the door that, if it were not for Diana’s good hearing, wouldn’t have been heard by regular ears. Diana sighed. “C’mon, open the door. It’s only me.”

There was another quiet scuffle and then, finally, the door cracked open an inch. Through the darkness of the night, Diana only spied Barbara’s eyes reflected in the light of the street lamp outside.

“Are you alright?” She asked, noticing how Barbara didn’t open the door past a crack. One hand remained on the door knob, ready to slam it back into Diana’s face at the slightest spook.

“Do I seem alright?” Barbara scowled through the dark. Her eyes flashed, full of anger and hurt.

Diana shook her head. “No. I came to see if you would consider taking a walk with me. I’ve been worried about you, Barbara. Nobody’s seen you at work or-”

“Worried for me or for yourself? Don’t worry, Diana. I’m not going to start ripping up the streets or beating people up again so you don’t have to keep an eye on me. I’m back to the old me, remember?” She hissed. “Back to boring, dorky, unlovable Barbara Minerva who drops her papers whenever a man looks her way.”

Diana wanted to point out that the Barbara Minerva that Barbara hated was the Barbara Minerva she loved most, but she knew that would get the door slammed in her face and that would be the end of it. Instead, Diana offered out her hand.

“Come on, let me show you something.” She saw Barbara consider the offer, glancing down at Diana’s outstretched hand uncertainly.

She was about to take it when she looked back at Diana. “This isn’t a trick? You won’t turn me in to the police or anything?”

Diana shook her head. “No.”

Barbara thought the offer over again until, after a few more moments, she nodded. “Give me five minutes.” And shut the door before Diana could say anything. She reappeared exactly five minutes later, stopping nervously in her doorway when she saw Diana waiting for her at the bottom of the steps.

In the streetlight, Diana could see Barbara clearer. Her bruises from their battle were still visible, mostly mottling her arms and jawline. Her hair still looked somewhat bedraggled and was still its dyed platinum blonde colour, but had at least been brushed for this occasion. She almost looked like the old Barbara again. Her huge glasses sat elegantly on her makeup free face and her clothes were back to their adorable oversize. Diana smiled.

“You look like you again.”

Barbara looked down at herself. “I guess so.”

“That’s a good thing, by the way.”

Barbara shrugged and pushed her glasses further up her nose. She moved down the steps carefully, keeping a wary distance of Diana as they fell into step together down the street. It didn’t seem to bother Diana too much as she just breezed along like it was any other day, hair down and her hands in her pockets. Barbara, whenever she wasn’t gazing down at her feet, stole glances at the Amazonian when she thought she wasn’t looking.

“Diana?” She asked tentatively.

“Hm?”

“Where are we going?”

“To the park.”

Barbara stopped. “It’s eleven at night. All the weirdos will be out.”

Diana kept walking, and smiled. “That’s what I’m counting on.” She turned on her heel and continued walking, now backwards. “I’m going to teach you that self-defence lesson I promised you.”

Barbara’s shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Diana, you don’t have to-“

Diana waved a dismissive hand, and chuckled. “No, no, I always keep my promises. Even if you already know the moves, you don’t have your powers anymore and-“

“No, Diana, I mean you don’t have to be nice to me just because…well, just _because_. As far as I’m concerned, we don’t have to see each other anymore or even have to know each other for that matter-“

Diana stopped walking. “We work together, Barbara.”

“I put in a transfer. They’re going to be giving me an office in London next month.” Barbara gave a nervous laugh as she shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably. “Who knows? Maybe my new colleagues will actually know who I am.”

Evidently, Diana’s talent at keeping her emotions blank needed some brushing up on because when the blonde’s eyes met hers, Barbara’s face twisted angrily.

“Don’t give me that look, Diana. Don’t pretend that everybody in our department knows who I am or even cares about me in the slightest. You know as well as I do that nobody in that building ever gave me a second glance or the time of day until I wished I was as gorgeous as you.” Barbara turned, starting to walk away. She called over her shoulder. “Just leave me alone. I’m not your problem anymore.”

Barbara didn’t get very far because Diana caught her by the wrist before she even made it five steps. A small sob escaped her lungs as she turned to face the Amazonian.

“Let me go, please. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Diana’s face was one of thunder. “You can’t leave, Barbara. We need you here. _I_ need you here.”

Barbara wrenched her arm from Diana’s god-like grip. “I’m not going to be your Steve, Diana. I saw what you wished for, saw the way you changed when he came back, and I saw what it did to you that he had to go back again. He’s gone, and he’s not coming back, and I am not going fill the hole he left.”

“I’m not asking you to be Steve.” Diana replied honestly. She stepped back, feeling tears start to prick up in her eyes. The mention of Steve stung more than she thought it would’ve. “Steve’s gone and there’s nothing I can do to bring him back. It’s strange, after he came back it started to make me realise how right you were.”

“Right about what?”

Diana gestured to the street around them. “Outside of Steve, I have no friends. I don’t go out, I don’t go to lunches, I have nobody but myself to rely on.” She leaned up against the lamp. “Leaving him again broke my heart and I need change. I need friends, a family. I think we both do.”

Barbara stared at Diana, her expression a mixture of confusion and upset. There was a long pause of silence in which Diana was convinced Barbara could hear her racing heart. Why it was beating so loudly: she couldn’t say. Barbara’s eyes fell to her feet.

“That sounds…nice. God, what am I saying? Diana, there’s _thousands_ of people in this city who would practically beg to be your friend-“

“And only one of them understands who I am.” Diana shot back. She reached forward and took Barbara’s hand, ignoring how the blonde flinched at the touch. “Barbara, you are the only one who knows how it feels to be able to punch through walls, not feel a bullet hitting you in the arm, be stronger than steel.”

“Not anymore.”

“But you did, and that’s more than anyone’s ever understood.” Diana could actually feel tears starting to threaten her cheeks. “Please, Barbara. You’re the only one I have left.”

Diana’s heart felt like it was going to leap out of its chest. Everything felt weird. She’d been without Barbara’s friendship for years and years and had never felt the slightest pang of isolation but now, after barely a week of her company: Diana had never felt so lonely.

The Amazonian’s show of emotion was evidently a shock to Barbara because tears had formed in her own eyes. Slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, the blonde squeezed Diana’s hand and stepped closer. Diana looked away, ashamed of her unexpected tears.

“I don’t want to be alone anymore.” She mumbled.

Barbara reached up and gently pushed a loose stand of dark hair behind Diana’s ear, her finger grazing the lobe as she did so. Diana shivered at the touch, goosebumps spreading over her ear and down her neck. When she glanced up, she saw that Barbara’s eyes did not meet hers but rather lingered on her lips with nervous anticipation.

No words were spoken, uttered or whispered as Diana slowly straightened and gazed down at Barbara from her great height. Neither dared to even blink as Barbara’s chin subconsciously raised to look up at Diana’s deep brown eyes.

Something had changed: an air or a thought of some sort. Some sweet aftertaste from Diana’s rare show of emotion that had created a thoughtful hush of silence between the two. One hand found another’s cheek and, after another moment of endless time, one pair of lips found another and delicately pressed two mouths together.

The softness of the kiss, intended for comfort, soon exchanged into an undecided want for passion or desperation. Diana’s arm wrapped around Barbara’s waist and drew her closer in by guiding her up with her hand on her jaw. Barbara’s hands, at first shy, held tightly onto the lapels and shoulders of Diana’s jacket as her body fell into the Amazonian’s like a puzzle piece. She could’ve stayed in that strong embrace all night had and her doubts and Diana let her.

The kiss was over almost as soon as it came about, but neither woman pulled away nor made a face of regret or repulsion. In fact, Diana laughed. Properly laughed. The kind of laugh where she could tilt her head back, let her hair fall down behind her shoulders and smile up at the stars. Barbara too, laughed albeit timidly.

“That was…odd.” She admitted, stepping slightly back from Diana’s arms.

Diana’s laugh faded and she frowned at the loss of closeness. “Odd? Is kissing ladies not your forte, Dr Minerva?”

Barbara blushed at Diana’s familiar boldness. “I don’t think kissing anybody is my area of- “She pushed her glasses up her nose. “- _expertise_. Is it yours?”

Diana grinned again. “Is that your way of asking if I’ve kissed many people?”

“No! No, not at all, I mean…”

Diana held up a dismissive hand, still smiling at Barbara’s flustered state. “I have not kissed many people. Back on Themyscira, I was taught to only kiss someone I truly cared for. There isn’t a great deal of people who have lived up to that value.”

Barbara frowned. “Back on where?”

Diana ignored the question, and instead took Barbara’s hand. “And as someone I care for; I should make sure you know how to defend yourself properly. Come on!”

The two turned and finally continued their walk down the street, although Barbara was still hesitant. She stole glances at Diana out the corner of her eye. It was as if the past five minutes had never happened, as if Diana hadn’t been on the cusp of tears and begging her to stay.

“Diana-“ Barbara started slowly. “-this doesn’t change anything. I’m still going to London.”

Diana didn’t reply, but Barbara noticed how her smile faltered again.

“I’ll keep in touch with you, though. We could write or-“

“Or we can enjoy the time we have tonight.” Diana replied with false positivity. “Let’s just enjoy tonight, hm?”

Barbara could hear the pain and fear in her tone and decided not to pressure it further. It would have to be a conversation for another day, so it seemed. So, Barbara took Diana’s hand and walked with her, and did as she was told. She enjoyed the night and did not forget it.


End file.
